CALLED TO SERVE

Hello friends! :) I am currently serving as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Nebraska Omaha Mission. I'll be emailing home every week for the 18 months that I'm in the Cornhusker state; my amazing mom will be the one posting them on this here blog. Interested in church history? Come on down to the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters and I might just be there to give you a tour!

"As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Monday, April 25, 2016

So we had our lesson with Harold last Monday! We had it at the churchand Sister Dinwiddie came with us; then we ran into Sisters Yancey andYoungberg so they joined in too! We read the Book of Mormon with himto help him understand how it testifies of Christ. So many people tendto just read scriptures like a novel but if you look deeper into it,you come to realize how much it truly talks of Jesus Christ and Hisgospel on every page! No doubt in my mind that it is the true word ofGod.

On Wednesday we went over to visit Carmon and lo and behold her newboyfriend Brandon was over! He's super nice and we taught him theRestoration and he said he would pray to know if God is really thereand aware of him. It was awesome because Carmon hasn't been to churchin a while but she was able to share her testimony with him about thepower of prayer and how the gospel has helped her! The best thing -that morning Brandon had talked to one of his coworkers who's Mormonand said he had questions about the church. The coworker said he'dcall him back later that night but never did...and we showed upinstead! That really surprised him but I know it's because HeavenlyFather is indeed aware of him and his needs. We were supposed to haveanother lesson with them last night and we showed up at the time theysaid but it turns out they weren't there. :/ But we're not giving upyet!

Keep on keepin on. Love you guys! :)

Love,Sister Irwin

P.S.Can you believe it's already been SIX months?!Some floral arrangements with Sister Young (the older)Twinning with Youngster #walnutcreek&cottonwood4lyfeFarm chores!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Howdy y'all! The Ellis family is gone on vacation so we're in chargeof the chores on the farm! Every morning we feed the chickens, ducks,cats, and the horse! And I can't forget, we take care of their cuteyorkie Duke too. :) We also go running outside on the trail around thebarn and the creek they have which is so beautiful. I love being innature and admiring all the wonderful creations that God has blessedus with!

Since living in the middle of nowhere we've been struggling with themile limit we have on our car so we may or may not have gone over lastweek and got a warning...oops. So on Tuesday we tried conserving milesby parking in the middle of the town of Springfield and walking allover the neighborhood with a map. We felt like real missionaries!**Fun fact: In one of Lady Gaga's music videos she plays a piano inthe middle of a field and it's in Springfield, Nebraska** We haddinner with Brother Cox, who just turned 77 yesterday! He's the cutestold man ever and he made us a fabulous steak dinner which is the firsttime I've had it since being here! He always tells the best storiesand can talk for hours on end.

At the trail center we took some BYU-I students on tour; John andKayla! They were so much fun and gave us names of three of theirfriends that we could contact.

Yesterday we had a special branch council with the stake and branchconference! They were so so good. I love President Derrick! He talkeda lot about the importance of forgiveness and service. Everyonestruggles with something, whether you admit it or not, and in reliefsociety it was basically a giant heart to heart with all the women. Ilove how close everyone in the branch is!

In other news, Harold has canceled a few lessons that we've set upbecause his work randomly calls him in which is lame but we have oneset up tonight so pray that it actually happens!

Sometimes I just wish you all could experience all the things thathappen and meet all the wonderful people here but I guess for now myemails will suffice! Have a great week everybody! :)

Love,Sister Irwin

P.S.1. The Nashville Tribute Band stopped by on the way to one of their concerts!2. John and Kayla3. Finally found a cool graffiti wall outside Keith's ice cream shop(in Springfield)4. Some of the flowers at winter quarters

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Nothing too crazy happened this week, except for while we were at the
trail center there was a TORNADO WARNING!!! Jk it was just a test
luckily, but still the siren was super loud and creepy like in the
movies. Things are starting to pick up at the trail center because of
Spring break so that's exciting! I've surprisingly met a lot of people
from Arizona here on business trips or vacation. I took some workers
from the Mesa Temple on tour just the other day, and some of Elder and
Sister Ellis' family members as well.

We met this awesome family this week. Teresa, David, and their three
kids! They've met with missionaries before and are super super nice
but super super Catholic. The 7-year old girl, Maria, is getting ready
for her first communion and we talked a little about the importance of
learning the commandments when we're young. Mostly we just sang songs
from girls camp because she knew the shark song! Never in my wildest
dreams did I think I'd be standing in a stranger's kitchen eating
banana bread and singing at the top of my lungs. Thank you black name
tag. :)

Sister Young and I had a dinner appointment cancel one night so we
decided to treat ourselves to some Texas Roadhouse. Our waitress came
out and told us that our check was already taken care of! It turns out
there was a family from the Bellevue 1st ward sitting across from us
and they paid for our meal!! We talked to them and expressed our
gratitude and found out their name was the Burkes. They inspired me to
want to do the same thing when I get off my mission! Mosiah
2:17..."when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only
in the service of your God." Get out there and find someone to serve!
It's the secret to happiness!

Love,
Sister Irwin

P.S. My "grandma" Sister Durrans (now Chloe) came back and visited so
we took a three generations picture!

P.P.S. Tryouts for the NOM Olympics...ball is life

P.P.P.S I touched the Platte River! We found a little community of
houses that live literally right next to the water and it was so
beautiful. There was actually a house for sale - mom, dad, you should
move here!

Monday, April 4, 2016

Hello hello! I hope everyone had a great conference weekend! I know I
did. I'm so grateful that we have a living prophet on the earth today
- President Thomas S. Monson! I love his counsel to "choose the harder
right". The right thing isn't always easy but it's always worth it.
This week we definitely saw the Lord's hand in our work!

Miracle #1 We have been praying for a media referral and we got one
from the trail center! A lady named Dianne came in and accepted
missionaries to come to her house and she just so happens to live in
Walnut Creek. :)

Miracle #2 We had a lesson with Harold and the Henry's and talked
about the plan of salvation and the importance of agency. He said he
finally understands why we have choices! Also Sister Young and I
finally got a picture with him. He's waving at the camera to our mom's
- he is just the funniest!

Miracle #3 We drove past this less active girl's house and saw that
she wasn't home. We went to the gas station and guess who pulled up in
her car right next to us?? We were able to talk with her and find out
she is usually free on Mondays so we're going to set something up with
her for next week!

Miracle #4 Another time we were at the right place at the right time
was when we went to visit this lady Sharon. She was in the garage
packing up boxes because it turns out she doesn't actually live there
anymore, she moved and was just finishing up some stuff so we offered
to help her!

Miracle #5 One day we were getting out of our car to try a house and
this man stopped in the middle of the street and rolled down his
window to talk to us. He asked if we were Mormons and we said that we
were missionaries. He said his name was Jason and that he had been
waiting years for Mormon missionaries to come to his door!!!! We
almost passed out from excitement! That's the missionary's dream! We
went to his house about an hour later with Sister Denos and answered
some questions he had. Really nice guy!

I know there are miracles in every day if we just take the time to
look for them! See what miracles you can find this week. :)

Love,
Sister Irwin

P.S. The zone cleaned a park on Friday with our game faces..we tried.
P.P.S. S/O to goodwill and walmart for the best t-shirts ever
~Also happy happy birthday to Moira and McKenna woohoo :)